Let's learn to compose together.
Welcome to my blog. These are all the articles I've written over the years about composing and music in general.
The hardest part of composing is staring at a blank page. It is easy to get caught up in the nothingness and find yourself completely out of ideas. So here are a few tips for generating melodic …
Continue Reading about Melody Writing – Part 3: Generating Melodic Ideas →
When composing a melody, you have to be able to simultaneously comprehend all of the different aspects of a melody, while at the same time, push them out of the active working part of your mind, so …
Continue Reading about Melody Writing – Part 2: The Tools of Melody →
Voting begins now, and ends next Friday, October 4th, 2013, at midnight California time. Vote for your favorite composition! …
Continue Reading about Composing Challenge #1 – Voting Begins! →
Hear ye! Hear ye! http://youtu.be/hjE2sxCQ_rU I'd like to announce the official start of the first Art of Composing Challenge. For this challenge, you will be required to write a piece, based …
http://vimeo.com/35901438 What courageous decision are you avoiding, that you know will change your life? So most of the time, I like to talk about composing on this site, and for good reason... …
Internet Forums, Symbols, Value, and the Golden Rule If you are a regular visitor to artofcomposing.com, you may have realized I have not been posting very much recently. The main reason is, I have …
Here is another 30 minute composition. This is written in 5/8 time, so there is a constant "incomplete" feeling most of the time... but I kind of like that. As far as composing for 30 minutes, I made …
Continue Reading about 30 Minute Composition #8: Prelude in C# Minor →
Enjoy this little ditty. I arranged this back in college, and I always wanted to take it caroling. I once went caroling using a caroling book from the high school band. Needless to say, the …
I wanted to write something a little bit faster and chromatic. I think it turned out pretty well. …
Continue Reading about 30 Minute Composition #7: Prelude in E Major →
In my last post, I talked about how I was going to get back into composing short pieces in 30 minutes or less. So here, I am putting my money where my mouth is. This was composed 10 December, in 29 …
Continue Reading about 30 Minute Composition #5: Prelude in Eb Major →
It has been a while since I wrote a post. The main reason being burnout. What's this you say! Burnout! But I thought you always had passion for composing classical music? Yes it is true. I have …
Continue Reading about Burnout, Forging Ahead and Jazz Composition →
Just wanted to let everyone know, I added a new page to the site. It is a compilation of free classical music resources online. Check it out when you get a chance. Don't worry, it's all legal. Free …
I will finish every composition that I start (except the 9th Symphony. In fact, just stop at the 8th). I will not bask in the glory of my finished composition - that is what amateurs do. I am a …
Composing shouldn't just be something you do, it should be a habit. What do I mean by habit? Habits don't have to be just bad, they can and are good things. You just need to know what makes them work, …
Continue Reading about The 5 Steps to Creating the Composing Habit →
Recently I have been having a change of mindset towards the way I approach life in general. This is really stemming from two books that I am reading. The first book, The War of Art by Steven …
